tortle:

badassboner:

derangedhyena-delphinidae:

I did the sketch for this a few days ago and was going to make a more finished version for today, but my week was a little interesting.

So have the quick-colored and cleaned-up sketch.

Happy 50th Sea World. I’m bringing out the reality of that celebration. 50 years of piling up dead Shamus for human amusement.

Such an occasion, right?

You’re an ignorant fool if you believe this picture.

Orcas in the wild average a lifespan of 60 to 70 years. They can and have been recorded living to 100.

All captive orcas have died under the age of 32.
The average death is below the age of 10.
(often below even 3)

As of December 2013 159 orcas have died in captivity since orcas started being captured in th 1960s. The oldest of which was 32, her name was Nootka 5.
(note that these do not include stillborn calves, misscarriages, or other unsuccessful pregnancies. Which are rampant, and many of the listed Orcas died due to pregnancy complications.)

13 of these deaths are Seaworld Japan.
16 are Seaworld of California.
12 are Seaworld of Florida.
10 are Seaworld of Texas.

That means of the 159 Orca deaths in marine parks worldwide, a total 51 are in Seaworld parks.
Not including Seaworld affiliate parks, or parks where Seaworld sent calves/adults.

There are currently 53 living captive Orcas, 19 of them wild captured, 34 captive born.
The majority of them being owned by the Seaworld parks, with 55% being in the U.S.
( 2 in Seaworld Japan, 10 at Seaworld California, 7 at Seaworld Florida, 6 at Seaworld Texas.)

I won’t go into the deplorable living conditions, but if you want hard statistics without opinion, here you go.
Of the 212 killer whales in captivity since the 1960s, 159 are dead. All of them below the age of 32, all due to illness, injury, or complications. The majority of which at Seaworld parks.
This does not include other marine mammal species, such as dolphins, other whales, etc.

If handed any other animal with this statistic would you continue fighting for the practice for the sake of public entertainment?

Source.
Source.
Source.

Further reading:
The wikipedia article on the subject.

The wikipedia list of deceased orcas. It provides the causes of many, which are certainly horrifying. A warning to any who reads it.

Former trainers speak out.

A Cracked article written by a former trainer.

I urge anyone to do their own research on the subject.
Don’t be swayed by just what I have posted, but also do not be swayed b ywhat is being fed to you by the very organizations who use these animals for profit. As we all know, when presented with criticism any company will do their best to downplay it.

For those commenting about it, no, the polar bear did not die just because of being kept in California.

The San Diego Zoo keeps two polar bears, and the way they keep the bears healthy is they put the bears on a low-fat diet. The bears have considerably less body fat than wild bears, which means they don’t have as much insulation, since they don’t need the fat to insulate them against the frigid cold. The bears look thinner than wild polar bears, since they are, but they’re perfectly healthy and their weight is stable. Because of their lower body fat, they’re comfortable in the heat, and have their pool to retreat into when it gets too hot. In fact, the zoo has to heat their pool in the winter or they won’t go into it. Having the bears on a low-fat diet is much easier and more reliable than chilling the entire enclosure. That’s how a good zoo handles polar bear care.

SeaWorld is not a good zoo.

Stop boycotting SeaWorld if you care about marine conservation

zoologicallyobsessed:

derangedhyena-delphinidae:

…or people could just keep boycotting it and support places involved in conservation that don’t behave so duplicitously.

Seaworld does little to nothing for actual marine conservation.

All the supposed “research” they do is useless on wild populations of marine species, because the conditions they are kept in are in no way adequate or comparable to their natural environment. So none of that “research” they hide behind is actually useful in terms of conserving wild marine animals.

The supposed “rescues” they do really just result in them capturing injured marine animals and then keeping them to make money off. That’s not rescuing, if you don’t intend to release the wild animal you’ve “saved” after it’s healthy enough to do so.

As for the funding they give to actual research grants to study wild populations, this money is always done after Seaworld comes under criticism for their abuse of the animals in their care and inadequate enclosures.

They throw money at conservation efforts so they can pretend they actually help the marine animals they use solely for profit, without ever having to actually answer for any of their animal abuse. And it works! Clearly from the above link!

They want you to think “well seaworld does have a bad track record of being accused of animal abuse but they give money to marine conservation!”